Jack White wails away at Gibson Amphitheatre. Photo: David Hall, for the Register. Click for more.

To fall back on an easy cliché, the difference between Night 1 and Night 2 was, well, night and day.

Saturday's first half of KROQ's 23rd annual Almost Acoustic Christmas weekend played out exactly like the schizophrenic mess it looked like on paper, a sampler from the Mojave tent at Coachella followed by an amped-up Weenie Roast finale from the turn of the millennium. The lack of quality heavier acts to flesh out that lineup underscores indie rock's rampant trendiness, the copycat overload of which is sure to cause a backlash soon enough with those itching for another Korn or System of a Down to surface.

Indeed, there were so many ragtag baby bands in the mix with crossover stars from the no-longer-fringe scene that this takeover of Gibson Amphitheatre was all out of whack. But to have aligned it less randomly would have led to Sunday's better bash lasting nine-plus hours when it already ran a full seven, thanks to a not-so-surprising set from No Doubt tucked in between turns from fun. and Jack White.

What changed was fan enthusiasm. Given Night 2's continuity, stretching from fresh favorites like Grouplove to headlining mainstay the Killers, people wanted to see it all – and accordingly arrived early. Kickoff band Imagine Dragons were playing to a nearly full house by the time the Vegas quartet finished at 5:30, whereas the first five bands on Saturday couldn't seem to draw half the crowd at best, playing to many empty seats.